love is a game for two
by harukkari
Summary: Leo/Takumi. In which Takumi totally doesn't have a crush on the cute blond transfer student who also happens to be beating him in half of his classes.
Takumi's never felt threatened, at least not until the new family moves into town. He takes pride in being at the top of his class, having a 4.0, starting his school's archery club, and volunteering regularly at the local hospital. Even though he's not as popular as his brother was in high school, he has a tight-knit friend group that has stuck together through storm and fire (it's truly a miracle Hinata and Oboro managed to endure his moody adolescent stage in junior high). As far as Takumi is concerned, his life is perfect. But that was before Leo arrived on the scene and started challenging him for the title of valedictorian, and even worse, he happens to be in five of Takumi's classes.

Naturally, Takumi hates his guts.

It wouldn't be so terrible if Leo weren't such an arrogant asshole. Takumi has to admit that he's smart, but he clearly knows it because he can't shut up about himself and his accomplishments. Not to mention that everyone calls him a genius. He's always wearing designer clothing and that ridiculous hairband of his, carries his stuff around in a messenger bag (who even uses those?), and generally excels at making Takumi want to punch him whenever he sees him.

So he clenches his teeth and decides to work harder, to be better, in the hopes of gloating over the defeated look on Leo's face when he, Takumi, is crowned valedictorian at the end of the following year.

...

Sometimes, Takumi thinks he needs to get new friends. He supposes he's used to their endless shenanigans, but that doesn't stop him from wondering what his second-grade brain was thinking when he first moved into the neighborhood all those years ago. It's not like he's really minded, anyway, or at least not until now.

"I swear to god," Takumi grumbles on the walk home from school with Oboro and Hinata. "I can't believe Mr. Yukimira moved me next to him, of all people. I can't stand that guy. He's such an arrogant prick and I can't understand why everyone likes him so much, because all he ever does is treat people like they're crap stuck to the bottom of his shoe. I mean, just who does that jerk think he is?"

As he continues his rant, his friends remain uncharacteristically quiet, and Takumi catches them exchanging a glance behind his back. Finally he can't stand their silence anymore and snaps, somewhat self-consciously, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"If I didn't know better, I'd think someone has a crush," Oboro says.

"A...what?"

Takumi stops dead, staring at Oboro as if she just grew two heads. Hinata turns away to hide his snicker.

"A crush," he says, as if it were obvious. "On Leo, the genius in our history class."

Takumi sputters, opens his mouth, then closes it. He doesn't know what offends him more, that Hinata actually called Leo a genius or that he thinks Takumi has a crush on that jerk. Finally, he bursts out laughing.

"What's gotten into you? You think I like him, of all people?"

"Takumi," Oboro says, looking unconvinced. "You've been talking about him every day for the past two weeks."

Takumi snorts. "That's because I hate his face."

"You sure you don't think he's cute?" Hinata teases. Takumi makes a noise of exasperated frustration.

"I hate you two sometimes," he grumbles, and hitches his backpack onto his shoulders and stomps on ahead. Behind him, Hinata bursts out laughing and Oboro calls out for him to slow down, but he ignores them. Serves them right.

...

As ridiculous as Takumi thinks his friends are being, he would be lying if he said the incident didn't bother him. In his defense, it would have been completely harmless if he didn't want to strangle the blond every time he saw him.

"Look, just so we're clear, I didn't ask to be paired up with you," Takumi scowls.

"I wasn't expecting you to," Leo responds smoothly. "I suppose we'll just have to make the best of this then."

As is inevitable whenever they exchange more than a few words, Takumi has to resist the urge to grab his collar and wipe that insufferable smirk off his face. Apparently, it's not enough that he has to suffer next to Leo in history; he has to be paired up with him for their English presentation too. Just his luck. Sometimes Takumi wonders if the world is set out to ruin him.

But he doesn't want to ruin his English grade (he has an A-minus because he got a bad score on his last essay, which has been eating at him for a while now), so he shuts his mouth. As much as it pains him to do so, he resorts to crossing his arms and glaring, keenly aware that he's acting like a child but too stubborn to acknowledge it.

"Yeah, whatever," he grunts. "Here. I'll analyze the themes and you can do the close readings."

"Takumi, I think this is supposed to be a group project," Leo says. Takumi hates that he has a point.

"Fine, then what do you think we should do?" His voice is dangerously close to a sneer.

"I don't think splitting it up like that would be a good idea," the blond says, unfazed. "How about we meet up at the library after school tomorrow to work?"

Takumi opens his mouth, ready to argue, then closes it when he remembers that the fate of his English grade hangs in the balance. "Fine," he growls, turning away. Leo looks at him strangely, but says nothing.

...

Miraculously, they manage to get through the project without strangling each other. To Takumi's surprise, working with Leo isn't as horrible as he expected; the blond can actually be surprisingly nice when he wants to. They end up getting 100 percent on their presentation, and he has to admit, albeit grudgingly, that okay, maybe he was a little wrong about Leo.

But that still doesn't change the fact that he does not have a crush on Leo, which his friends have been insinuating for a while now. Hell, he's seriously starting to question his choice of friends. Sometimes he's absolutely convinced they only hang out with him to make his life worse.

Somehow, Takumi manages to put up with their teasing until one particular incident, when even he can't brush it off as harmless anymore. Said incident takes place during lunch one day, when Hana asks him if he likes Leo in a voice loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear. Including the blond himself, who's sitting at the next table over with his (dysfunctional) friends.

Takumi nearly dies in humiliation on the spot, but to his relief, Leo doesn't turn around. "Be quiet!" he hisses.

"You didn't deny it," Hana points out with a grin.

If they hadn't been friends since elementary school and she weren't Sakura's best friend, Takumi would have ended their friendship right then and there. First Oboro and Hinata, and now Hana. Is the entire school convinced he has a crush on Leo?

But for some reason, he finds himself at a loss for words. He sputters for a moment and all he can finally come up with is a weak-sounding "shut up."

Hana looks at him for a moment, and then Takumi flushes and he can't stand meeting her gaze any longer. He turns away in resignation at the sound of her victorious giggle.

...

Okay, so maybe he doesn't hate Leo as much as he used to. But that doesn't mean he likes him. Sure, they talk to each other in class sometimes, but Takumi doesn't even know if they can even be called friends at this point.

Still, Takumi finds himself seriously questioning his assumptions about the blond when he gives him a ride home after their chess club tournament. In his defense, Takumi didn't want to give him a ride in the first place, but his brother had just gotten off work and offered to pick Takumi up. And of course Ryoma, with his adamant sense of duty, couldn't leave Leo sitting on the school steps by himself. Leo had protested, but he didn't know how stubborn Ryoma could be (Takumi knows from experience). Eventually, he explained that his sister was supposed to pick him up because she had the car, but something had come up and he couldn't get a ride.

"Sorry," Leo says in an uncharacteristically subdued voice, as he climbs into the backseat gingerly. "I hope I'm not being a bother."

"Nonsense. It's nothing at all," Ryoma insists. "You're Takumi's friend, after all."

Takumi cringes at the word friend (his brother can be so clueless sometimes), but Leo doesn't seem to notice. He just looks down at his lap, biting his lip and looking concerned. His phone buzzes several times along the way, probably with texts from his sister.

With Leo giving directions, they finally enter a shabby-looking neighborhood with most of the lawns unkempt and littered with garbage. Leo's house is bigger and nicer than the rest of the houses on the block, as Takumi expected, but that doesn't change the fact that he lives in the worst neighborhood in town, notorious for its high crime rate.

"This is it," Leo says as Ryoma pulls up to his house. "Thank you."

He sounds genuinely grateful, the usual confidence and self-assurance gone from his demeanor. Takumi frowns because he's acting really, really strange.

"See you tomorrow," the blond calls over his shoulder as he's getting out of the car, and it takes Takumi a moment to realize that he's talking to him. Startled, he manages to respond with a lame "bye" before Leo shuts the door behind him.

As he pulls away from the curb, Ryoma's eyes meet Takumi's in the rearview mirror. "Isn't this the notorious Nohrian neighborhood everyone keeps talking about?"

Takumi makes a noncommittal noise, looking back to watch Leo disappear into his house. Feeling suddenly guilty, he realizes that he doesn't know half as much about Leo as he thought he did. He only wishes he hadn't made so many assumptions.

...

After that, something changes between them.

Ever since he discovered that Leo is more than just a typical rich kid, Takumi can't help but feel ashamed for judging him so harshly. So, somewhat reluctantly, he tries to compensate by not acting like a complete jerk all the time (yes, he admits that maybe he's not the nicest person sometimes). On his part, Leo starts treating him more and more like a genuine friend, which is surprising and somewhat unsettling; before then, Takumi didn't even know the blond was capable of being nice.

Most importantly, Takumi makes Hana swear never to mention Leo's name in front of him again, and she promises not to, but she's giggling as Leo stops him after English class. For some reason, Takumi has a sinking feeling about all of this.

"Thanks for giving me a ride yesterday," Leo says. "I really appreciate it."

"Yeah, no problem," Takumi manages. In the corner of his eye he sees Hana grinning at him and he inwardly swears.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," Leo says. At his smile, Takumi feels a flush rise to his cheeks.

"See you," he stammers, feeling strangely flustered. Leo looks at him for a moment more, an amused smile tugging at his lips, before collecting his books and heading away.

As he leaves, Takumi mentally kicks himself, wondering what the hell has gotten into him.

...

If Hinata and Oboro have noticed that Takumi has stopped ranting about Leo every other day, they don't mention it in front of him, to his relief. But he catches them exchanging a knowing glance from time to time when he talks to the blond, which both annoys and terrifies him.

"Gotta go!" Hinata calls over his shoulder as he sprints off after Oboro one afternoon after school has ended. Before Takumi can yell at him to wait up, Hinata gives him a thumbs up and mouths good luck before he leaves. Takumi makes a mental note to kill his friend next time he sees him, because Hinata has left him alone standing awkwardly with Leo in front of the school gates.

"So," Takumi starts, eloquently.

Leo doesn't seem to notice his discomfort. If anything, he looks amused. "Your friends are...interesting," he says after a pause, as if the word doesn't quite fit.

"What are you talking about?" Takumi grumbles. "You're the one who hangs out with a perverted creeper and an eight-year-old in the body of a high schooler."

"Hey, Odin and Niles aren't that bad," Leo says indignantly. When Takumi snorts in disbelief, the blond scoffs and tries to hit him on the shoulder with his book, but he ducks away in time. With a jolt, Takumi wonders when they started being friends.

"Anyway," Leo says, "what was Hinata talking about just then?"

"What do you mean?" Takumi stammers, suddenly feeling blood rush to his cheeks.

"He told you 'good luck,' or something, and gave you a thumbs-up. What was that all about?"

Leo noticed. Takumi wants to crawl in a hole and die.

"Oh, that was nothing," he says.

He tries to sound casual, but inwardly he's already contemplating how he should make Hinata's death as painful as possible. To make things worse, he is sure his face is completely red. Takumi curses everything. The gods seem determined to torture him when it comes to Leo, it seems.

The blond blinks, taking in his averted eyes and furious blush. Slowly, a small smirk begins to spread out on his face, and Takumi feels his pulse stutter.

Out of nowhere, he remembers that Leo was sitting right behind him when Hana teased him about his not-crush, and he's certainly caught onto something with Hinata's strange behavior. The guy is insanely observant, after all; it wouldn't take long for him to put two and two together. Takumi is struck with a sudden feeling of terror, which doesn't even make sense because there's no way he actually—

After a moment Leo shrugs and lets the subject drop, to Takumi's immense relief.

"You want to get some coffee?" he asks casually. Takumi can't believe his ears.

"W-what?!"

Leo just smiles, as infuriatingly calm as always. "I know a great coffee place down the street. My treat," he adds graciously.

Takumi opens his mouth, then closes it dumbly. He must have been gaping like a fish because Leo chuckles.

"Don't look so surprised," he says lightly. "But if you'd rather not, that's fine. I have a lot of homework to finish anyway."

"N-no," Takumi manages, finally finding his voice. "I'd, uh, love to."

Mentally, he swears at himself for acting like a complete idiot. But Leo's looking at him with that gorgeous smile of his and Takumi hates the way his heart flutters in his chest.

Wait, what?

Takumi does not have a crush on Leo. He knows this like he knows the sky is blue or his favorite food is miso soup or that his best friends are Hinata and Oboro, no matter how much they seem to enjoy ruining his life. It's a fact. And yet—

For the first time, he realizes just how beautiful Leo is, strands of his blond hair ruffling in the breeze, his amber eyes shining.

As they begin walking down the street, Takumi is still in shock, and for some reason he's unable to put together a coherent sentence without stammering. He's sure he has the dumbest smile on his face, but Leo doesn't seem to mind.

Maybe he does have a crush, Takumi realizes finally, but maybe that's not such a bad thing after all.

He's still smiling when they enter the coffee shop and the aroma of freshly brewed espresso reaches his nose.


End file.
